


The Trouble that Finds Me

by Donkeyk18



Series: Me Amongst the Stars [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, Tragedy/Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-07 10:35:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3171636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donkeyk18/pseuds/Donkeyk18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set between Mass Effect 1 and 2. One shot non-linear look at the time spent between mission on board the Normandy. Shepard is arguing with the ships Computer, there is a space-rat infestation on the Normandy, Shepard might loose Liara, the Destiny Ascension makes an appearance and the plot thickens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stow-Aways

**Author's Note:**

> Story line deviates slightly from the main mass effect narrative.

“Commander Shepard, your presence is required in the crew quarters on deck 2.” a synthetic voice sounded over the cabins intercom.

Commander Katheryn-Jane Shepard looked up and away from her desk at the ceiling to address the bodyless voice.

“What’s going on now?” the commander asked, annoyance edging in her voice. The Normandy and its crew had been on a deep space assignment for the past 4 months and a half and while the crew were generally well behaved, Shepard had to put out the odd fire, both literally and figuratively.

“Uncertain Commander, noise levels in the vicinity have exceeded 80 decibels for a period longer than 4 minutes. The Systems Alliance Active Duty Regulation Handbook, Chapter 4: Conduct, Section 4.1.3 sub-section 7b through to 7k –“

“-dash 54, stipulates that crew auditory levels cannot exceed 60 decibels blah-blah standard conversation – something – conducive environment – blah-blah-blah. I know what it says. Leave the crew alone Computer” Shepard spoke mockingly and waved her hand dismissively in the air “it’s been a long assignment and a long time since we’ve been planet-side. Let it go.” The commander sat forward in her chair, satisfied the conversation was over she returned to the mountain of requisitions she had been reviewing before the interruption.

“Commander Shepard, scans show elevated levels of [Androstadienone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androstadienone), and adrenalin in present personal indicating fear or stress.” The computer spoke in monotone.

Shepard rubbed her hands over her face massaging the bridge of her nose for a moment while she thought of all the possible things that could be going on in the crew quarters that would induce stress or fear. ‘Seriously’, the commander thought, it could be anything from joyful merrymaking as one of the crew attempt to break some poker record or it could be that the bunks had accidentally been set alight by a good idea to learn fire breathing onboard a military ship...again.

“On my way” the Specter spoke without addressing anyone in particular.

Shepard grudgingly stood up from her desk with a sigh as she straightened her uniform and proceeded to exit her cabin. It was obvious in the Commander’s body language that she wasn’t in any particular rush to investigate the Computers concerns but if that wasn’t enough, along the way Shepard frequently stopped to inspect the condition and Maintenance Work Order of several bulk heads. Since the heroic death of Kaidan Alenko, bulkhead maintenance had slacked somewhat.

Shepard furrowed her brow slightly at the thought of the fallen soldier, but her spirits quickly lifted as her mind shifted from the moments of his death to the happy months preceding it and one particularly awkward moment when he confessed his love to her…and she decline.

Shepard proceeded towards the crew quarters, opting to take the stairs over the lift, which would give her a chance to continue inspecting the condition of the ship and making mental notes of maintenance issues. As she ambled up the stairs, growing closer to her desired location a low drone of many people talking at once began to envelope her. The drone got louder as she got closer; and continued in this fashion until the Commander emerged to find a large group of the alliance ship crowded outside the entrance of the crew quarters; all focused inward. Intertwined amongst them her Alien compatriots, Garrus, Tali, Wrex and even her Girlfriend Liara.

Shepard steadily approached the crowd, her eyes narrowed as she tried to make sense of the situation. Although the Commander’s height was slightly above average for a women, she couldn’t manage to see past the group of huddled people, even with the added efforts of craning her neck as far as she could.

Shepard stepped up close to Liara and reached to intertwine her fingers with the Asari’s. Liara was mildly startled but accepted the tiny yet romantic gesture from the Commander who shifted closer to Liara hiding their hands. No one else had yet noticed the Commanders presence, which allowed Shepard to continue to enjoy the contact with her lover and observe the present shenanigans which she had yet to uncover.

After a few minutes Shepard decided it was time to bring an end to…whatever _this_ was. She looked at the Asari and silently winked before releasing her hand and moving deeper into the crowd. She didn’t manage to make it very far before she met the back of a broad, balding soldier. Shepard stared in mock annoyance at the man’s for a moment before she blew a sharp breath against the man’s balding spot prompting him to turn abruptly only to meet the confident stare and lopsided grin of the Commander.

Shepard held her finger over her mouth instructing the man to be quite and not announce her arrival to the present crew. Without a word the man stepped aside, and copying the commanders gesture, nudged the person in front of him to do the same, this person in turn nudged the person in front of them and so it went producing a path for the commander to walk through to the entrance of the crew quarters where the commotion seemed to originate. Shepard was only mildly surprised to find Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams at the centre of all this trouble. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest and watch as the young officer thrashed wildly at the floor with a miniature golf club.

Ashley remained happily oblivious as she rounded her arms around her body, winding up for another swing, the end of the golf club narrowly missing the Commanders head. The sound of the golf club landing on cold steel coupled with low shrill screams as the soldier expended effort echoed through the now silent crowd and down the corridor. Shepard waited and patiently watched the gunnery chief at work, wondering when Ashley would take notice of her new spectator. To the dismay of the crowd, Ashely continued on; rampaging through the crew quarters swinging at ghosts only she could see. When Shepard had finally had enough she cleared her throat and spoke into the room in front of her expecting the alliance officer to hear her.

“So is this an extranet thing…?” the commander spoke nonchalantly.

Ashley jumped at the sound of the voice and quickly dropped the golf club; snapping to attention. Shepard dropped her arms from her chest and locked them neatly behind her before she stepped thoughtfully into the room, her eyes locked on the panting women before her. The spectre picked up the miniature golf club and twirled it playfully in her fingers as she came to face Ashley.

“Anything?... I’ll accept any explanation, Williams, …Even a bad one” the Commander passed dramatically between each sentence

Ashley swallowed hard before answering: “Space rats’ ma’am”

“Space rats?” Shepard nodded sagely, before turning and sitting on a nearby bunk, inspecting the golf club in her hands.

“Well one space rat ma’am. We discovered it in a locker ma’am”

“We? Gunnery Chief?”

“I, ma’am” Ashley stiffened.

Shepard didn’t respond to the last statement, instead she stood, and hunched over lining up for an imaginary golf putt. As she was about to release her imaginary putt, a very real and very large space rat scurried over her feet and out the door, down the passage and out of sight. All present including the spectre were surprised by the sheer bravery of the rat in question.

Space rats, unlike earth rats weren’t even a little lovable from a distance. These were rubbery, hairless creatures that can only be described as the love child of a slimy bull-dog frog and a very ugly but large fresh water salmon. A space rat was also equipped with a long and remarkably strong tail that ended in a claw like appendage that could lift object 100 times its own body weight. If this wasn’t enough to hate the creature, its body was tpically segmented and rough covered in a same poisonous substance its stinger injected into its prey or attacker, which ever it came into contact with first.

Shepard straightened herself up and looked towards the crowd.

“I’m sure you all have work to do.” Shepard said smoothly. The crowd that had gathered disappeared, except for 4 Petty Officers’ and Ashley.

“You four,” The commander addressed the Petty Officers, “I take it you are off duty”

“Yes ma’am” they spoke in a single voice.

“Two of you go down to the mess, I’m sure Mess Sergeant Gardner could use your assistance preparing lunch. Record this as official time in your logs. The other two of you go down to requisitions, or find the ships serviceman, Raymond Tucker - try for a few mouse traps or something that will work the same, nothing to inhumane. Put them around the ship, where there is one there will be more and we can’t allow those things to breed. Again, record it as official time”

The four Petty Officers saluted and left the scene Leaving Ashley alone at the mercy of the Commander. Shepard turned and walked back to Ashley. Handing the golf club back to her; Shepard spoke:

“You should join me for a round of golf one day, really put that swing of yours to use. Dismissed.”

Ashley’s lips curled into a small smile as she exhaled a sigh of relief. The commander wasn’t an unreasonable person but she ran a tight ship and preferred that things remained in order.

****

“Good Afternoon Commander.” An emphatically smooth, velvety voice seeped through the air, instantly coercing the commander into a bashful smile.

“Dr T’Soni” The commander responded coolly with a nod in the direction of the Asari who had been leaning against a wall, obviously waiting for the commander.

The two proceeded together in the direction of the CIC; the steady pace of the commander slowed to an amble.

They walked in silence for some time. They tried to maintain a semblance of formality in front of the crew despite their romantic relationship; which remained ‘hidden’. Liara walked in step with the commander, her arms crossed over her mid-section cradling a data-pad between them.

“Is it possible Commander that we picked up space rats on Ketaen-7, when we stopped to refuel a few days ago.” Liara began a conversation.

“I was thinking the same thing, and they didn’t have any decontamination protocols so it makes sense” Shepard added. She noticed the data-pad in Liara’s arms. “Is everything okay Dr T’Soni? Can I assist you with anything?”

“Everything is quite fine thank you Commander Shepard, I was wondering if I could submit a requisition order.” Liara said with a hint of oddity in her voice.

“Certainly Dr T’Soni, whatever you need feel free to submit it to the requisitions officer in cargo hold two, I’m sure if it is in the stocks or can be handled internally, you can get it instantly. But modifications to the ship will need to go through engineering first” the commander responded plainly.

Liara chuckled slightly,   “Thank you Commander, but perhaps you would prefer to handle this requisition personally.”

The soldier took the data-pad from the asari with a playful smile, and the two continued for a short while until they were interrupted by a petty officer who informed Shepard there was an incoming call from the Systems Alliance and she would need to take it in the conference room.


	2. In To the Tubes

Later that week.

Shepard sank heavily with a sigh of relief into the occasional chair in her quarters. It had been just another day on the Normandy, she thought, another day filled with some of the crew intermittently shrieking as a rat crossed their path; while in other instances a sighting of a rat was followed by a loud thud or something similar as crew members attempted to knock the vermin out cold by throwing it with whatever they had in their hand at the time.

In one instance a crewman expertly through his dinner knife at a scurrying rat but missed; the knife ricocheted off the cold steel floor and lodged itself in the knee of another officer. In addition, the space rats which had multiplied exponentially and to feed their numbers the vermin had managed to get into the mess hall supply cupboard, ransacking two months of provision and stocks. The Normandy wasn’t scheduled to be back at the citadel, where maintenance and especially extermination could take place for another 6 weeks. Shepard shook her head, she didn’t understand the full force of these vermin until the chewed through her armour and were literally destroying the Normandy from the inside out by eating and chewing the wiring within the ship. But if all of this wasn’t bad enough, the crew had begun reporting items missing, most probably taken by what was fast becoming the Commander’s arch enemies. Shepard massaged her temples, trying desperately not to relive the last few days.

“ATTENTION ALL PERSONEL. SHIFT BETA HAS ENDED. ATTENTION NIGHTWATCHMEN: LIEUTENANT MOULDER, PETTY OFFICER IyE-LANE AND CREWMAN JOHNSON.” A synthetic voice echoed throughout the Normandy.

Shepard sighed, she knew that this announced meant it was 00:00 hours and she knew what was coming next…

“Good evening Commander Shepard, would you like to review the Normandy’s status logs” a bodiless voice sounded in the Commanders cabin.

“I hate you” Shepard spoke mockingly at the voice.

“Command not recognise, please rephrase” the voice, undisturbed responded.

“Affirmative” Shepard conceded to the computer.

“March 4 2185, Day 184 Command Mission, Deep Space recognisance, Commencement …..” Shepard shook her head irritably, every night was the same, and the commuter would review the ship status logs and start with a long ass history of everything that happened from the start. Tonight Shepard just wasn’t in the mood, she took off her boots and placed them neatly on the floor beside her chair.

“Computer, review present day logs” The Commander attempted to shorten the process.

“Affirmative Commander. March 4 2183, Day 184 Command Mission, Deep Space recognisance, commencement…”

“ARGH!!!!!”

“Commander Shepard, My systems detect elevated levels of cortisol and adrenaline, would you like me to summon Dr Karin Chakwas from Med-bay”

“No, Computer; proceed to review present day status logs, as of 11:00 hours” the spectre spoke calmly, she knew she would have to get through the review but why did it have to be so damn difficult.

“Affirmative Commander. March 4 2185, Day 184 Command Mission, Deep Space recognisance, commencement…”

“YOU GOD_FORSAKEN, STUPID PIECE OF INSOLENT ALLIENCE TECH!!!!” Shepard growled with a shaking fist at the ceiling. “I JUST WANT TO REVIEW THE SHIPS STATUS LOGS WITHOUT AN ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE BECAUSE I WAS HERE FOR ALL OF IT, IN FACT I SAID ‘ADMIT TO OFFICIAL LOGS’, YOU LOUSY, USELESS *mumble*mumble*”

Shepard stopped, and took a deep, calming breath.

“Command not recognised, my systems have detected: Commander Shepard would you like to review the Normandy’s status logs?”

“YES!!!!!”

“Affirmative Commander. March 4 2183, Day 184 Command Mission, Deep Space recognisance, commencement…”

“FOR FUC#######!!!”

Shepard stopped mid-sentence as the doors to her cabin swished open smoothly. Shepard didn’t bother looking to see who it was, there was only one other person who had her key-code. A sultry blue figure, all dressed down in Asari fashion sleepwear strolled to the commander in her occasional chair and place a cool blue hand on the commanders head, moving the hair back gently.

“Arguing with the computer again, Commander?” Liara spoke soothingly.

“Why does it have to be so damn difficult Liara, WHY?” The commander asked rhetorically.

The scientists perked up and addressed the ceiling: “Computer, review status logs from present day, March 4 2183, status report, Navigation”

“Authorisation?”

“Senior Crewman Dr Liara T’soni, authorisation Jellybean1323”

“Current location, star cluster Hawking Eta, sector B17-K101-GL2 Lenossa”

“Fuel” Liara initiated the second command.

“Operational, recommended resupply March 30 2185”

“Normandy systems?” the Prothean expert spoke calmly.

“All systems operational at 100%”

“Stores?”

“Operational, recommended restock May 14 2185”

“Crew?”

“Commander Katheryn Jane Shepard has command of the SSV Normandy. 34 Crewmembers cleared for active duty, 1 crewmember confined to med bay for injuries sustained on duty”.

“That is all” Liara concluded the conversation coolly and calmly.

“Good evening Dr T’soni” the bodiless computer voice concluded.

Shepard looked up at the Asari next to her in complete disbelief.

“You have to teach me how you did that” Shepard spoke with awe in her voice.

“Commander there are many things I would love to teach you but to be honest, how to talk to the Normandy commuter is not very high on my list, if I can find it on there at all” Liara spoke suggestively.

Shepard reached up and pulled Liara into her lap, drawing her into a deep and lustful kiss. When finally they were forced to part, they separated only enough that would allow them to gasp deep breaths of air. Panting Shepard whispered just loud enough for Liara to hear:

“I’ve waited all day to do that”

Liara’s eyes flickered across the commander’s face, from her profound gaze to her full lips; desire evident in the Asari’s deep blue stare. Liara shifted to straddle the commander, providing her with the much needed leverage to pull the commander into another hard kiss by the scruff of the commander’s collar. This time the commander was the first to pull away, she broke the kiss and proceeded to trail kisses down the Prothean experts chin and neck. Liara ran her hand through the commander’s hair, and arched her back, giving the commander as much unobstructed access to her smooth skin as she could. Liara reached down and pulled of the commander’s alliance issue T-shirt revealing two perfectly round and voluptuous breasts happily seated in a black sports bra. Liara ran her hands over the commander’s smooth, muscular shoulders. A tensions rising between the soft folds of her centre. Shepards hands glided over Liara’s toned legs, moving the loose fabric further up her thighs, until the commander could slip her hands under the garment completely to grope the Asari’s naked ass.

 

Liara shuddered under the Commanders grip and plunged her lips hard against Shepards. Biting the soldiers lip and pulling it slightly as Liara draw away from the kiss, slightly breathless. Liara began to rock her hips, attempting to satisfy, even mildly the, the burning heat between her legs. Shepard could sense the intensity of Liara’s desire, even without the bond. The commander shifted forward to the edge of her seat, allowing Liara to gain leverage on the specters thigh.

Liara moaned deeply, lust and desire dripping from her every breath. The Asari bore more of her weight on the Commanders thigh, swivelling her hips, it was clear what the Asari wanted, Liara reached up and rand her fingers, leading with her nails, across the commanders jaw and down her neck to the space between the commander’s breasts. Shepard moved to stand, prompting the Asari to wrap her legs lightly around the commander’s waist. Lifting Liara, Shepard walked the few paces to bed, where she gently released the scientist before positioning herself on top of her.

Liara reached down and began unbuckling the commander’s belt in an effort to get Shepards cargo’s out of the way. Shepard released Liara’s hand from their work at her pants and intertwined her fingers with the aliens. Pushing the asari back on the bed, the commander pinned the Asari down, kissing her passionately. There wasn’t any particular rush, but Shepard wasn’t in the mood to waste time, she began moving down the Asari’s body, as much as it frustrated the commander that the asari was still mostly dressed, she ignored it on account of the fact that her mission objective was located slightly further down between her lover’s legs. Shepard periodically threw sultry glances towards Liara’s own deep blue eyes, receiving affirmation that this is what she wanted. Liara smiled down at the commander, anticipation mounting in her.

Shepard looked up one last time, but something caught her attention behind Liara, a string or rope leading from her bedside drawer…Shepard paused, squinting at the string, trying to think what it could belong to. Then the string moved, but with too much purpose and force for any breeze to have moved it. Shepard, still between Liara’s thighs watched it carefully, Liara looked down at Shepard quizzically. Then the string disappeared completely into the drawer for a few seconds before a huge, fat but fast space-rat plunged out of the drawer, Shepard’s dog tags clutched in its mouth.

“NO YOU DON’T!” Shepard shouted as she threw herself off the bed, landing with a thud on the cold steel floor. She reached for the rat but missed. The Commander military style crawled across her room, half jumping, half crawling, making every attempt to catch the thieving rat before it exited through the emergency release panel of the door.

“Shepard!” Liara gasped after the commander, trying to signal some sense in her lover.

But to no avail, Shepard pursued the rat but it still managed to squeeze through with Shepards dog-tags. The spectre, still topless, barefoot and her pants undone, threw herself out of the door after the rat, leaving a very hot and frustrated Asari on her bed.

Shepard chased the rat down the passage to the mess hall where the rat escaped down a drainage hatch, Shepard was only a split second behind the rat, lying flat against the floor, she thrust her hand down the hatch in the hope of catching the rat.

“ARRR, You thieving, little, (*&^ %@$%@&*@(@( &@^%%#%^%&@” Shepard growled angrily, profanities spewing from her mouth. She pulled her hand from the hatch. Her muscles rippled threateningly as she pulling the heavy floor panels out of the way to reveal an entryway to very complex set of Gerry Tubes that acted as service tunnels and ran through the entire ship.

“Commander Shepard, perhaps it would best if you replaced your cloths before continuing?” a confident English voice spoke from above the commander. The spectre looked up to see an amused Dr Chakwas and a reasonably horrified petty officer. Garrus who was passing by, paused to watch the commotion, noticing Liara standing at the door of Shepard cabin looking concerned, he was perhaps the only one who could make complete sense of the situation. He chuckled to himself and moved on.

Shepard stood, holding her pants up with one hand to prevent it from falling off completely, She brushed a few stray hairs out her face with her free hand, recollecting herself.

Slightly out of breath, Shepard addressed the Doctor “I apologise for disturbing you Dr Chakwas.”

“Get someone who knows these tunnels down here now” She spoke with authority to the petty officer, who saluted and moved quickly to retrieve one of the engineers. With a final nod to Dr Chakwas, an exasperated Shepard proceeded to her quarters without another word.

The doors to Shepard cabin swished close behind her, Liara stood near a corner of the room.

“Shepard what happened?” Liara spoke, her voice on edge.

“That little shit has my tags” Shepard spoke quickly as she hastily put her boots back on and then her shirt.

“What are you going to do” LIara asked slowly, not sure why the situation was so tense.

“I’m going to get it back and put an end to this” shepard walked over to her wardrobe.

“Put an end to what exactly?” Liara spoke as slowly as she had in previous sentences.

Shepard reached inside her wardrobe and pulled out a Banshee Shaped Rifle, she checked for ammunition and then cocked the device; “Everything” She finally answered, a definitive decision in her voice.

“Shepard you are going to blow a hole in the hull” Liara pleaded with reason to the upset looking commander.

“Its alloy rounds, not plasma. The only thing this is going to blow a hole through are the heads of those thieving vermin” Shepard spoke through gritted teeth.

“Shepard it’s late, come to bed we will recover your tags in the morning” Liara spoke half-heartedly trying to convince her partner to come back to bed, with the hope of finishing what they started. It was only half-hearted because she knew there was no persuading the spectre. Shepard walked up to the Asari and with her free hand grappled the scientist around her neck pulling her in for a sweet kiss.

“Don’t wait up” Shepard left the room. Liara tracked her lover with her eyes as she disappeared in the direction of the mess hall on a mission to ……Liara thought for a second…..on a mission to retrieve her dog tags from thieving space rats. Liara nodded sagely, accepting that this all definitely made sense in a Commander Shepard sort of way. Nevertheless she returned to her quarters and was greeted by a knowing Dr Chakwas sipping a glass of brandy - who smiled empathetically but saved Asari the pain of any conversation.

Waiting for Shepard at the site of the makeshift entry into the ship innards was Hull Maintenance Technician Wabeeri, a young women with dark Indian features. She stood at attention, clearly having hastily dressed, she looked quite fearful, as she awaited the commander’s orders. Shepard stepped up to the technician and quickly saluted before Wabeeri could announce herself. “There are rats in the Gerry-Tubes, I’m going hunting. What do I need to know.”

Wabeeri spoke so softly it was almost inaudible: “is that a plasma rifle ma’am?”

“No, it’s alloy, that is gas powered”

“It should be fine Commander, those beebee guns use argon gas and carbon dioxide, and both are non-reactive. You are safe in that regard. But Commander Shepard, you need to be aware that these Gerry Tubes run throughout the ship, most dangerously past the lithium heat sinks and over the reactor. Those sections often get extremely hot, as a way of preventing the heat from damaging the Gerry Tubes, they are routinely flushed with nitrogen gas. Commander if you get stuck in one of those sections during the flushing cycle…...” The tiny servicemen trailed off, but remained stationary, not even allowing her eyes to wander to far up and down the commander’s body; “Commander, in the section where flushing occurs, before it is flushed - blast doors seal the area. There are terminals sporadically placed where you can view the time of the next flush.”

“Noted, thank you, that’s all I needed. As you were” Shepard spoke, having clearly not listened.

For the first time since their engagement began, Wabeeri looked at Shepard, making eye contact she spoke with a little more confidence: “Commander, I think I’ll stay”.

Shepard smirked at the young technician, and jumped down into the Gerry Tube in front of her. The space was small and cramped, Shepard had to remain on her haunches, even this didn’t leave much space between her head and the top of the shaft. The spectre swivelled on her toes, trying to discern which way her victim would have gone. She held the rifle close to her chest in true commando form, and settled on a direction.

Moving slowly but with purpose the spectre traversed the ships inside scouting for her lost item and the vermin responsible. Between 2 and 3 hours of searching, moving up and down and up again within the tubes Shepard threw herself against a side wall of the tube, frustration echoed in a drawn out sigh. To her left and right where only meters more of tubing, it all looked the same and her omni-tool was of no help as she didn’t have the schematics loaded- she never thought she would need such secure data.

On the opposing wall, more to the left of the Spectre was an adjoining shoot that angled at about 45◦ upwards into another section of tubes. Shepard looked at the unremarkable scene around her, ‘where could they have gone’ she thought – knowing that she had probably scouted the entire ship. Shepard took a deep breath, the air seemed to be a lot thicker and heavier in this sector.

The spectre breathed deeply, berating herself for becoming so unfit. She remained seated for a few minutes, trying to coalesce a plan of further action, at the moment the only idea that came to mind was having the entire crew run diagnostic scans on every inch of this ship with their omni tools - it could take days. Shepard ran her fingers through her hair, returning most it to order before gliding the back of her hand across her forehead removing a few beads of sweat that began settling there. ‘So, Jane…Now what?’ She asked herself, unconsciously pulling at the neck of her T-shirt from her body, trying to cool her sticky skin.

Shepard tapped her beebee gun idly, still wildly engrossed in thought, her tongue moved uninhibitedly around her mouth trying to stimulate saliva to coat the drying orifice. Shepard’s breathing became, noticeably faster and shallower – the air around her ominously dense and growing denser.

“Hot” Shepard said out loud, fanning herself, still seated…”hot?” she repeated, tilting her head to the side, Shepard felt as if this word should have a greater meaning to her. A small screen and silently flashing orange orb just next to the Commanders head caught the corner of her eye. Shepard turned, pivoting from her neck to examine the light. She squinted but couldn’t see properly from her present angle forcing her to sit slightly forward and engage her shoulders to see the screen. In front of her was a small screen no larger than the palm of her hand. The screen displayed a small counter that read: 00:01:30. Shepard examined the counter curiously, the numbers were decreasing…00:01:29…00:01:28…00:01:27…Shepard stared at the clock watching the numbers count down, her brain in agony as she tried to remember why this was important.

A low rumbling began to emanate from the shoot across from her, Shepard sat up slightly straighter, taking her gun to arms, and she readied herself for what was coming down the shoot. In front of her a space rat, perhaps not the same one she had been hunting; fell from the tube and turned sharply, scurrying towards the Commander. Shepard raised her gun, “I got you now” she said in a low voice with a wicked smirk. She raised her beebee gun and took aim, the rat didn’t slow but continued bounding towards her.

The rumbling in the shoot didn’t stop though, but grew intensely louder, Shepard lowered her gun, her eyes narrowed towards the shoot…’what the hell’ the single rat passed her and the commander followed it with her eyes… her gaze returning to the rumbling shoot just in time to see hundreds of space rats cascade from the tube, wave upon wave spewed out, thousands of tiny feet landing on bottom of her platform with a tiny thud, followed by a sharp turn in the commanders direction.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Shepard exclaimed, her eyes wide at the site before her. She thrust her hand against the floor with intention on pushing herself from a seated position to her haunches, but as soon as her hand touched the steel floor she flung it upwards, the floor was blistering hot.

“HOT!?” Shepard screamed out…”HOT! HOT! HOT!” she repeated as realisation dawned on her. She turned abruptly to look at the screen next to her, 00:01:12 … 00:01:11 ; The spectre was overrun with the space rats, the vermin climbing over her in clear objective to the nearest exit.

Shepard sprung to her haunches, hitting her head on the top of the Gerry tube, she hastily dusted off the rats from her shoulders and body. On either side of the commander, about 20 meters from her; red caution lights began swirling, immediately behind it blast doors began to emerge from the ceiling. Shepard began hobbling to the one of the exits, but her position was slow and awkward. She felt the floor again, hoping to crawl out of tube but it was too hot, her skin drenched in sweat sizzled when it made contact with the hot steel.

The commander ripped off her t-shit but only half-way allowing the cloth to rap around her elbows. She moved more quickly shuffling along her knees and elbows in a sea of rats. Her presence did not detour the vermin from their instinct to survive, they continued to crawl over, under and around the commander, each leaving tiny scratches as their sharp claws and course bodies came in contact with the spectres soft human skin.

Shepard made it past the blast doors, she rolled onto her back but landed on more hot steel. She wasn’t out of the flushing zone, another blast door was closing in front of her, she was about to be in a lot of trouble. Grossly entangled among thousands of rats, Shepard scurried for survival, with a final plunge she propelled herself through the blast doors, dislocating her shoulder as it hit the nearly closed shutter, she landed on several rats that squealed loudly, stinging her with their tails in retaliation, one particularly large tail hooked onto Shepard’s face leaving a long, 3 pincer puncture in her cheek and above her eye. They were stuck in a dead end, a small space about 4 cubic meters big, toughly the size of a dumpster.

“ARGH!!!!!!!” Shepard screamed out, activating the blade of her omni tool she stabbed the ceiling of the Gerry-Tube. Sparks fell around her and on her as she cut through the steel floor, thin wisps of nitrogen filtered through the sides of the blast doors wafting around her. Shepard paid no attention, she had one mission and that was to get the hell out of here. The uniform scurry for survival of the rats had turned to a frantic and chaotic rigmarole, rat over rat, swarming over each other and her. Water began to drain into the emerging hole, she had hit water pipes.

Shepard burst through the floor of the women’s lavatory, two Ensigns shrieked in sheer terror at the site of the commander as she rose from the floor. A bloodied, bruised and half naked Shepard crawled hastily out of the Gerry Tubes, followed by several rats that had latched onto her.

The Spector, laid panting on her back, clutching her dislocated shoulder. Blood ran down the side of her face, into her hair and on to the floor.

The lights in the lavatory turned dim red: “HULL BREACH IN SECTOR 16, DECK 2. EMERGENCY PERSONEL TO RESPOND. HULL BREACH IN SECTOR 16, DECK 2. EMERGENCY PERSONEL TO RESPOND”. A synthetic voice began repeating and alarms sounded in the background.

Shepard looked up from the floor, the ceiling and lights above her began to blur. The venom from the space rats stings, beginning to take effect. An ensign placed a towel on the commander’s face, trying to stop the bleeding. Shepard’s eyes rolled, her throat began to swell, closing her airways.

Shepard’s eyes closed, she was losing consciousness. Around her she could still hear the incessant computer, the alarms and the spray of water as it gushed from the pipes. Behind her a door swished open, “Commander Shepard!” an old English voice echoed in Shepard’s mind. One eye was forced open and through it she saw and extremely blur and hazy human form, the imaged intermittently disturbed by a bright orb of light that passed in front of it. It all faded to black.


	3. Barracks

“FALL BACK!”; “FAAALL BACK!”

A hysterical voice called from behind the thick clouds of smoke. The area was dark, water sprayed from ruptured pipes, the lights hung only from their cords from the ceiling, flickering and buzzing. Small fires smouldered within sparking bulk heads. A low boom of cannon fire was followed by a shudder that shook the entire ship causing the many frantic runners to stumble.

“THEY”VE BROKEN THROUGH!!! FALL BACK!!!! THEY’VE BREECHED!! FAAAALLLL BAAAACCKKKK!!!”

The voice screamed again frantically running. The sound of rifles and pistols polluted the air. Hard boots beat on the broken metal floor, unidentifiable voices screamed through the smoke, some orders, others information. “HELP, HELP ME!” a petty officer screamed down the passage, but no one could stop, her partner had been shot. She tugged at the body trying to pull the soldier to a safer corner, but it was no use, she had waited too long, Krogans surrounded her.

Liara spun around and let off two short burst of her riffle, she fired into a wall of mercenaries, doing no damage. “T’Soni MOVE” Garrus pulled Liara by the arm away from the battled towards the medbay. Bullets hurled past their head ad ricocheted off a nearby wall leaving deep holes. “SHEPARD NEEDS YOU!” Garrus screamed at the Asari, Liara didn’t respond she knew Garrus was right, she looked at the Turian, worry etched on her face. “I’m fine, GO!”.

“YOU TWO, COME WITH ME” Liara called to two alliance soldiers between bursts of their rifles. Liara ran towards the medbay followed by the two soldiers. She dodged bullets and bodies. She lost one of her squad, she saw him fall but there was no time to stop and assist. “TALI!”.

“T’Soni!?”

Tali Zorah vas Nema stood at the entrance of the medbay, her rifle at the ready. In the medbay, Dr Chakwas, uncharacteristically in armour and armed working with some of the recent casualties, trying to patch them up and send them back out as soon as they could hold a gun let alone walk, but for many that was not a possibility, the nurses; trained only as field medics - assisting Dr Chakwas themselves were wounded and only working at half the rate they could normally. Each of the 8 beds available to the medbay had at least 2 or 3 severely wounded soldiers, some with missing limbs, others with trauma, bullet holes or lacerations, Dr Chakwas knew that even all of these wouldn’t make it. Red painted the scene. Among them was Joker who had broken almost every bone during the first assault and Commander Shepard, her condition stable but she was in a deep coma.

“HELP ME!” Dr Chakwas screamed from the back of the room. She was pulling a bed back into the medbay storage room which had become Liara’s office and quarters. Liara signalled to the soldier next to her to assist the doctor while she and Tali manned the entrance. The staff moved quickly, but the patients had monitors and life support that had to be moved with them; frustrating the process.

“THEY’RE COMING! WE CANT HOLD THEM” Wrex, Garrus, Ashley and several alliance soldiers bounded around the corner towards the medbay; not far behind them were a thundering horde of heavily armoured and armed Krogan Mercenaries. Wrex carried on his shoulder at least four more wounded, Garrus dragged others behind him, as did some of the alliance soldiers with them.

“SHUT THE DOORS!!” Wrex bellowed.

“YOU HAVE TO DO IT MANUALLY” Dr Chakwas screamed from the back of the medbay, she and the nurses were still in the process of moving the patients back. Liara, Tali, Ashley and 5 able soldiers formed a barracks to hold off the Krogan while Wrex and Garrus shut the heavy blast doors. Bullets sped through the closing entry, whizzing past, narrowly missing each of them on the front line.

There was a scream from one of the nurses behind them, these rogue bullets had found unsuspecting targets. The doors closed in front of Liara, a continued stream of bullets pelleted off the door from the outside. The Krogan mercenaries surrounded the room, the occupants who numbered no more than 25 (including the wounded) watched the Krogan as they plotted. Sprays of bullets continued to assault the door and medbay windows, leaving snow-white blast-marks in the glass. The medbay was the strongest sector in the entire ship. It was designed to withstand an insurmountable amount of force and damage, so much so that the Turians who build it suggested it would be the only room to survive if the vessel crashed on the surface of the planet from above the atmosphere.

Liara looked to the soldiers and aliens beside her, they knew that this room, no matter how well it was designed wouldn’t last forever, and this is where they would take their final stand, regardless of how short. Beside them Dr Chakwas continued to move the patients, two of the soldiers left the line to assist Dr Chakwas, uncertain if it would even make a difference to move them all into Liara’s office.

On the other side of the window, the Krogan lined up, for each of the remaining Normandy fighters; 2 Krogan stood, undamaged and blood thirsty. For Liara, her world had seemed to slow down, she watched a massive Krogan, clad in red heavy armour, come to the centre of the Krogan line. Behind him were two more Krogan sharing the load of the torpedo launcher they had broken off the Mako. They placed the torpedo launcher on the shoulder of the battle-Master who sank slighter under its weight as was dwarfed by the cannons size. With a cruel smile he commanded them to loaded the cannon and the Krogan heathen fired, there was no escaping, from the corner of her eyes Liara saw her comrades dive for shelter; she turned swiftly and dived hoping to land on top of the commander, shielding the comatose soldier from the blast, but she was to slow the projectile shattered the glass, the shock wave ripped through the room, it flung the occupants every which way, Liara was slammed hard against the back wall.

The Asari discoloured with red staggered to her feet, the room around her was spinning, her ears rang painfully - thick and heavy smoke carried smoulders, burning her lungs as she inhaled. Flames engulfed Liara as she tried to make sense of the scene before her. She managed to make out an emergency shield had activated over the space where the windows once were, but this didn’t matter, the blast doors at the entry of the medbay had been shot half off their hinges; the Krogan were already trying to pry it open, and slowly succeeding.

She stepped forward, adrenaline and instinct the only thing keeping her upright. Liara felt a tug on her arm, she was being dragged backward by a nurse to the storage compartment. At first the Asari didn’t resists, she stumbled backward in the direction of the force acting on her, but then she saw Shepards body. Limp, and severely damaged by the blast near door of the medbay. Liara struggled out of the grip “IM NOT LEAVING HER!” Liara protested, breaking free of the gip she bounded to the commander, grabbing the motionless soldier by the forearm; she dragged the body backwards, struggling to pull it over the debris, scattered bodies and body parts. Liara looked up in time to see the Krogan break through the door, an ugly, mean foot soldier bounded in towards the Asari and her lover, the butt of his gun raised to beat the two. Liara fell over Shepard trying to protect the human, she braced herself for impact.

WHAP! The Krogan stumbled back into the arms of his fellow assailants, Dr Chakwas had moved back into the medbay to assist the Asari, her rifle raised she emptied her plasma rounds, buying time for Liara to pull back the commander. Some of the others came to the Dr’s side, defending the line, pushing the krogan back only slightly. They retreated in the back compartment and sealed the doors…………………


	4. Aboard the Ascension

Beep……………………………….Beep……………………………….Beep……………………………Beep…………………..

Commander Shepard began to stir. The rhythmic beep of a heart monitoring machine drew the spectre from the empty abyss of her unconscious. Shepard slowly opened her eyes but struggled to focus, she blinked repeatedly trying to adjust to the light. Her body felt weak and her head burst with a racking headache. Shepard’s head swivelled to the side, she managed to make out a blue figure next to her. “Liara” the Commander gurgled, only half the syllables making it out of her mouth.

The figure moved closer to Commander-turned-patient. “No, it is Matriarch Ladaniya, Commanding Officer of the Destiny Ascension”.

“I know who you are Matriarch.” Shepard whispered, the fog in her brain and the heaviness of her body lifting.

“Yes, you were supposed to meet us in the Attican Traverse to assist in keeping the Baterian tribes under control during their elections. Express orders from your admiral Hacket as I understood them to be”.

“We are on our way, Matriarch.” Shepard spoke hazely.

“Those orders are obsolete Commander” The Asari responded, no emotion evident in her tone.

“Huh?”

An Asari doctor walked up to the bed and checked the human’s vitals and other readings, recording them on a chart that hung at the bottom of her bed.

“Commander Shepard you were hurt quite badly during your confrontation with…..space rats;” the matriarch paused, “you’ve been in a coma for 11 days.”

“What?” Shepard tried, “Where…..wher….e’s Liara?”

“Aboard the Normandy, overseeing some repairs”

“What?”

“You, Commander Shepard are on the Destiny Ascension. Your unwanted guests had successfully overrun and destroyed Navigation systems and Long range scanners. I have yet to ascertain whose idea it was to call an ‘All-Stop’ in the middle of one of the most remote parts of the galaxy to make repairs; but I’m sure you will deal with that when you get back. Your ship was attacked by a group krogan mercenaries including a Battle Master. The attack lasted 8 days, most of your systems were off-line or failing by the time we got there, particularly Life Support, Engines and Communications. Your crew was left stranded fighting mercenaries, while their Commander lay barely alive in a failing hospital wing.” The Asari spoke – reprimand and disdain dripping from ever word, it was clear that the Matriarch did not approve of Shepard’s behaviour and childish risk taking.

“How…” Shepard gurgled again.

“When you didn’t show up as scheduled and communications failed, we decided to come and look for you.” The tone of the Asari’s voice began to soften. “Few crews could have survived an attack for as long as yours did Shepard. I know - mine didn’t”

Shepard’s eyes widened, “It was a very long time ago Commander” the Asari assured Shepard.

“My crew?” Shepard felt her stomach tighten.

“those that needed to be hospitalised have already been discharged but remain under the supervision of Dr Chakwas”. The Matriarch answered quietly.

“Thank you.”

The Matriarch didn’t responded verbally but nodded and left the commander to rest.

***

It was a few more days before Shepard was released from the medbay, visiting was restricted to the Normandy’s chief medical officer who would need to monitor Shepard once she returned to the Normandy and its acting XO who brought mostly updates on the progress of repairs.

“Commander Shepard, You have a visitor” One of the Asari nurses spoke, gently rousing her out her sleep.

Dr Chakwas stepped up to her bed, taking her chart she examined it.

“What’s the verdict doc” Shepard said groggily.

“You will make a full recovery Commander, the technique they used to manipulate the biogenetics that are rebuilding your leg is very advanced; your leg might even outlast you. I heard Ceberus – those right wing pro-human maniacs – had stolen the data in a costly heist – I now understand why.”

The commander laughed good-naturedly, she sat up slowly, pain etched on her face from the effort.

“Doctor, what’s happening on my ship? They won’t tell me anything. Worried I might get worked up.”

“And they are correct.”  


Shepard looked at the doctor pleadingly.

“Well I guess today is your lucky day, I’ve brought you some data pads to review. You should be out of here soon and well, better to be informed than not.”

“How’s Liara?”

“She’s fine, healing”

Shepard looked sombre. This was the first time she had a chance to really look at Dr Chakwas. The spectre noticed Chakwas had her hair pulled back into a tight bun, a bullet wound than ran from the edge of her jaw and down her neck was healing.

“Here” the doctor handed the data pads to Shepard, trying to take Shepard’s mind of the medical officer’s injuries. They were mostly reports regarding damage, system failure and a list of repairs that were underway. The commander read them only half taking it all in until she came to the ‘Crew Manifest’. She paused at the pad, a little unsure of what she will find. Since she woke up - no one had said anything regarding her crew’s state of health, wellbeing or any state at all. She looked at the doctor now seated beside her bed, the doctor returned a look of sympathy.

‘Total Crew on board 64’ Shepard didn’t spend too much time on this fact, she knew that it counted all personal dead or alive. Shepard Scrolled down, under each title was a list of names, ‘Wounded on Duty (WoD): 26’…………… ‘Unlikely to Return to Duty (UtRD)/ Honourably Discharged: 15’…………….’Requested Transfer: 4’………………………………………… ‘MIA: 0’ ……………………………….. ‘KIA: 19’, Shepard’s heart sank at the final title. She scrolled more slowly through the list, it wasn’t obvious but Shepard made it a point to know every single person on her crew and take a personal interest in them.

She stopped, her finger hovered over one of names; Dr Chakwas stopped fiddling on her omni-tool and watched the Commander. ‘Hull Maintenance Technician Amina Wabeeri, Petty Officer 3rd Class, June 18 2161 – March 20 2183. The spectre let the data-pad fall to her lap, she felt a sinking in her stomach, she swallowed hard before turning to the Dr and in a quiet voice: “She was only 22”….Dr Chakwas looked up at the Commander, there was nothing she could say, Shepard had to deal with this on her own terms.

The Doctor stayed with Shepard a little while longer, even though mostly in silence. Shepard fixated more on Liara than any other thing, she did however appreciated the Doctors company; it was soothing to both of them. Finally Doctor Chakwas stood and gathered up the data pads, preparing to return to the Normandy. Shepard reached up and lightly gripped the older women’s wrist; it was all she could muster. Dr Chakwas didn’t resist, she looked at Shepard. “Liara is fine, anxious to see you. I swear the two of you are cut from the same cloth” the corner of the Shepard’s mouth curled up ever so slightly. “Thank you, but the crew?”; “They believe in you, in your strength, your tenacity… I’ve come to learn that is all that matters- Commander Shepard.”. Dr Chakwas left the hospital Wing with a final goodbye to Shepard and the attendees.

***

Shepard was wheeled slowly out of the medbay of the Destiny Ascension by one its petty officers towards the docking ports of the massive ship. Matriarch Ladiyana had offered the Normandy its assistance in repairs and to act as an armed guard for the duration of the repairs should there be another attack. In truth the Normandy could have easily fit into the any one of the loading bays or hangers of the Ascension but the landing gear of the Normandy was too badly damaged forcing the ship to dock at one of the ports designed mostly for transports and smaller shuttles.

The commander was brought to the gate leading to her ship and crew. Waiting for them was Matriarch Ladiyana; accompanied by an Asari Justicar and 3 Asari officers who stood at attention.

“Commander Shepard, I am glad to see you are feeling much better” the Asari Matriarch spoke politely. Of course Shepard’s progress was no surprise to the Matriarch as she visited the Commander every day and kept steadily informed on her condition. Shepard had healed well, only light scratches remained on her face but that would fade in time.

“Thank you Matriarch Ladiyana; for everything. I will not forget this”

“It was my pleasure Commander” the matriarch nodded humbly.

Shepard lifted herself slowly from the wheel chair. Saluting the Matriarch and attending officers she began to move through the Jetway. To Shepard’s surprise Matriarch Ladiyana accompanied the spectre on her slow journey down the Jetway.

“A Justicar?” Shepard broke the Silence “You keep dangerous company, Matriarch”

“No more dangerous than the Asari on your crew.” The Matriarchs’ words caused Shepard to stop and turn towards the Ascensions Captain, obviously there was more to be said.

“Matriarch?”

“Matriarch Benezia’s daughter.” The Ascension Commander rebuffed.

“Yes, I know who her mother was” Shepard said stiffly, she was expecting an argument.

The Matriarchs expression softened, “Hundreds of years ago I met with a consort, She told me that I would meet a young but extremely powerful leader whose people were from every star system and were unlike their own; they would be formidable but not unjust. She also said I wouldn’t think that this individual deserved their position but … they would prove to be a friend ofthe Asari.”.

Shepard listened closely, unconvinced that she had anything to do with the Matriarch’s prophecy. “I think it best that you keep searching Matriarch” Shepard smpoke with an assuring smile. The Asari matriarch didn’t respond, instead she gestured to the Commander to proceed.

“I can see why Liara likes you” The Asari spoke again, a smile crawled across her lips.

Shepard hitched in her step as the words crashed over her; she was uncertain on how to respond.

“Do me a favour would you, keep an eye on her. I know her father wouldn’t be able to stand losing her” Matriarch Ladiyana continued.

“You know her father?”

“I do yes, She was a great commando. Survived single handily against a group of Krogan mercenaries.” a secret knowledge framed the statement.

“Is she still alive, I know Liara would love to meet her”

“Yes her father is alive, but it will be impossible for Liara to meet her, ever.”

Shepard opened her mouth in protest but before she could get a word out, the Asari spoke again:

“Above your pay-grade commander”

With an understanding smile, they parted ways.

Shepard limped slowly through the decontamination chamber and into the cargo hold of the Normandy.

The Matriarch walked back up the Jetway, the return journey took a fraction of the time it took to get down. Once reaching the top Ladiyana dismissed the commando’s but the Justicar remained. The two Asari stood for a few minutes in silence waiting for their attendees to have cleared the vicinity.

“Did you tell her?” The Justicar asked emotionlessly.

“Not everything. Do you think the consort meant her?” The matriarch responded Cooley.

“We can never be certain, Ladiyana…either way, we need to prepare ourselves”.

Matriarch Ladiyana looked away from the Justicar towards the decontamination chamber. “Liara has already lost so much” she finally said softly; “but she is a T’soni, and her sire wasn’t completely incompetent. She will overcome her pain” the Matriarch added.

“That is where you are wrong, she will follow Shepard, even to her death. But you know this, if Shepard is the one the consort spoke of, then they are all lost.”


	5. Return to the Normandy

Shepard stood lopsided in the decontamination chamber as she waited to enter the Normandy. It had been a long recovery, or at least that’s how she felt. Around her the decontamination chamber looked a little worst for ware. Half of the lights in the chamber were off and the other half flickered and buzzed valiantly trying to stay working. There were plasma holes and burn marks on every inch of room, in the side wall was a massive whole, probably from a cannon blast. A pile of sand bags and shield modulators laid in the corner of the room, Shepard supposed that this and every other loading bay, port entry or hanger door was the main areas of confrontation; after all it would have been where the mercenaries tried to gain entry.

The door opened with a grinding, stopping half way. She fitted through the opening comfortably but the reality of what her crew had to endure was slowly dawning on her. She stepped out of the decontamination chamber and into the Normandy airlock.

She was received by a small welcoming party comprised of: Leuitenant Dubyansky Officer of the Deck and Acting XO, Garrus, Dr Chakwas, Chief Engineer Adams, Joker and two ensigns, although not the same two that found Shepard after her altercation. The alliance members were in their formal dress blues and Garrus wore his C-Sec armour. All them looked strained, their appearance raged and grimy despite obvious attempts to clean up, healing gashes and bruises were clear on the exposed part of their body.

“Permission to come aboard?” Shepard spoke clearly so that all present could hear but she addressed Lt. Dubyansky.

“Permission granted.” The Lt responded formally. The receiving party snapped to attention and saluted the commander.

“You are relieved of duty as XO Lieutenant Debusnky.” Shepard spoke with authority. “Debriefing in 5. Dismissed”.

The receiving crew dissipated. During the debriefing Shepard was updated on the state of the ship and on some of the details pertaining to the Krogan attack. She listened intently and mentally noted acts of supreme valour, but also knew that she would record recommendations for each member of her crew. This particular was young and comprised of officers both enlisted and non- which was different to the norm where the lowest ranking officer was an ensign; but Shepard was proud learn that they all went above and beyond the scope of duty. Shepard discovered that the on board Computer system was destroyed, meaning they would need to reinstall the system when they returned to the citadel, Shepard secretly thanked the heavens for this small mercy. Additionally, Shepard was informed that her XO Charles Pressley had been confined to the brig and relieved of duty (a combined effort of Dr Chakwas, Lieutenant Debunsky and Garrus) for going against alliance protocol. in other words, he tried to surrender the ship, its technology and weapons to the Mercs; apparently there wasn’t even a negotiation, but a complete surrender.

Shepard drifted in and out of the conversation, admittedly she didn’t try too hard to stay focus, she was distracted. Liara sat two seats away from the Commander, to the left. Shepard frequently looked at the scientist, expecting some eye contact or acknowledgement, but Liara barely even moved. Concern grew in Shepard, Liara was being extremely aloof and this troubled her. They hadn’t seen each other since the night she went after the space rats and still Liara was cold and withdrawn. Shepard concluded the debriefing expecting full reports.

The gathering dissolved, each member returning to their duties. Shepard lingered in the meeting room, expecting Liara to stay behind, but the Asari exited quickly. As desperately as the Spector wanted to resituate herself with Liara, she had duties to perform and those would have to come first. A thought spawned in Shepard, would she always put her duties before Liara?


	6. Our Breed

Shepard took her position at the head of the Galaxy map, “Open a ship wide channel.” The Commander ordered the yeoman to her right. “Aye Aye Commander. When you’re ready.” The yeoman responded.

“Attention Crew. This is Commander Shepard.” The spectre’s voice rang throughout the ship, every officer stopped what they were doing; in the CIC all present turned towards the commander. Shepard took a moment, the faces around her were solemn. Shepard wasn’t sure how to start, speeches weren’t exactly her strong suit. She sank slightly on her platform; Anderson once told her that leading others was the hardest thing in the world, besides giving orders that could see people to their death, you had to remain strong, and inspire your team; they will need you to lead them…but that is all they will need. Shepard took a breath and straightened, her time was now.

 _“We lost very good men and women. Nothing I say now an,d nothing we do is going to change that and it’s not going to bring them back”_ The commander paused _, “we mourn for them, our sympathies and thoughts go out to their families, friends, loved ones. BUT;”_ the commander raised her voice _, “they were soldiers, and I know they fought and died with honour and dignity, defending themselves and their own against pride-less scum! I would not have expected anything less… No, we do not go out seeking trouble, but neither are we meek and docile! We never know when a simple reconnaissance mission is going to turn into a struggle for our LIVES, but if and when it happens we will not shy away, we will not blunder and we will not surrender! You have all proved this to me! And I am honoured to be serving by your side”_ The commander to a breath before beginning again, her tone softer but no less serious – resolve edged in her voice _: “We’re going to battle, we’re going to fight. Regardless of the odds against you, as long as you stay true to your cause; YOU WILL NOT FAIL, YOU WILL NOT FAULTER! Do it for yourself, Do it for another, Do it for each other!”… “I’m not going to lie. It’s always going to be hard, and they might have you in a corner without options, LOOSING is never an option! If we must, When we must! We will push the line forward, we will drill through them and we will rock their WORLDS!!! – ”_ Shepard looked around; her crew seemed to stand all a little taller _“and when it is over, we will meet again, be it in the AFTERLIFE , or - ----- - on the field in VICTORY!” . Shepard finished._

“Hooah! Hooah! Hooah!” The entire CIC and ship erupted in cheer.

“Joker, Lay in a course for the Citadel, we’re going home.”

“Aye Aye Commander” t


	7. Trouble that Finds You

Shepard walked slowly down the stairs, the lift still wasn’t operational and this was the only other way to move between the decks. Almost every panel of the Normandy’s hull had a bullet scuff or plasma burn. On-board monitoring systems had been destroyed so there were no feeds to watch; and no way to get any real sense of the terror that had erupted on the ship. Shepard stopped at almost every station where one of the crew were working, checking in on them, their progress and offering her assistance. It would be a full week before they would arrive at the Citadel. In the meantime continuous maintenance and fixing had to occur just to keep most of the ships systems online, what compounded the situation was the induction of unqualified crew members to perform tasks of the engineers and technicians that were lost.   
Shepard walked past the place where the medbay once stood. For now it had been moved to the observation deck. Shepard stepped into the burnt out skeletal structure. Shepard took a deep breath, the smell of burn filling her nose. She had heard of how the final assault had taken place here, the majority of casualties and injuries, proceeded the retreat to the medbay.   
The sound of shuffling in the back compartment of medbay drew Shepard out of her thought. Shepard stepped quietly into Liara’s old office, not wanting to disturb the figure busy. The commander stood at the door for a moment watching the Asari who was in the midst of a sea of papers. Liara bent and picked up several bunches of papers, dusting off debri. With a small shake of her head she dropped the pile she had gathered; having decided that there was no use; it was all useless any way.   
“I will have to reprint all of this” Liara finally said aloud without looking at her gues but clearly acknowledging that she was there. Shepard didn’t think that Liara had noticed her. The Asari bent again and picked up a small box, she looked at it sadly, it had several bullet holes in it, and far to many pieces rattled from the inside. Shepard recognised the box as the container of a gift she had given Liara, it contained a Prothean artefact. 

Commander Shepard walked into the room, still cautious so as to startle the asari. The spectre enveloped the scientist in a warm and safe hug. Shepard felt the Asari embrace her; the tension, fear and anxiety drained from the prothean expert and Liara relaxed into Shepard, happy to be back in her arms. They stood silently for a while, each revering the knowledge that were okay.   
“How close was I to loosing you” Shepard asked softly, her eyes closed and her arms still wrapped around her love.   
Liara didn’t respond, instead she broke the embrace and took a seat on a nearby crate. Shepard joined her.   
“Shepard, I Don’t know if I can do this” Liara began; “I don’t know if I can love you.”. Shepard only listened. Liara looked into her hands “there is always going to be someone trying to kill you, you are always going to be in middle of it.” Liara stopped, uncertain where she was going with this.   
Shepard looked at her own feet, she didn’t like where this was going. “Trouble does have a way of finding me.” The commander joked. “Liara took a small metal trinket from her pocket and handed it to Shepard; it was her dog tags.   
“Shepard, what if you don’t come back. What happens when you don’t?”  
“I’m always coming back”  
“You can’t promise that”  
“I have to; because it the only way that I’m going to keep you. Liara I will never stop loving you”  
“That’s the problem Shepard.”  
“Liara, Im always coming back. As long as you have my tags, I will always come back to you. Keep these…” Sherpard couldn’t bring herself to say it; but Liara understood. Shepard knew it wasn’t fair to Liara, or at least it wouldn’t be if and when she died in battle, but Liara was the one and only thing she ever truly wanted, Shepard questioned the wisdom of the universe; despite everything she had been through she couldn’t believe it to be so cruel.


	8. Fragile But Stable

Commander Shepard sat quietly in the mess hall, idly pushing her oatmeal around her bowl with no great interest in actually eating it. They were about two days away from the citadel but they still had to get there. “May I join you Commander Shepard?” A voice interrupted, Shepard looked up a little surprised to see one of the junior officers in front of her. Shepard smiled and gestured with her hand to a seat opposite her. The two sat in silence for a few minutes.

“May we join you Commander Shepard” 3 more officers enquired after the seats nearest Shepard. Typically Shepard sat alone, despite it being the meal times, occasionally one of the senior staff would join her, but there was a misconception among the crew that they couldn’t engage with the Commander outside of orders. Shepard had always found this a bit of a phenomenon as she was once part of same the crews that she would eventually lead. In the beginning it did bother her, but after a while she stopped taking notice.

Slowly all the seats in mess hall filled up and Shepard was completely surrounded by the remaining members of her crew. A sting that wouldn’t lesson any time soon. Shepard looked around curiously, low conversation went on all about her, people were smiling and joking, her senior crew was mixed with the junior officers, exchanging stories, histories and expectations of what awaited them when they returned to home. The Spectre felt her spirits lift at the sight and sounds of the comradery that had formed, even stronger than before. She noticed Liara sitting between Garrus and an ensign, opposite them were Talia and Ashley, with some other officers, the entire group listening intently at some story being told quite animatedly by Wrex. Shepard couldn’t make out what the Krogan was saying but she figured it had something to do with pyjacks based on Wrex’s hand gestures.

Shepard observed the group silently; conversation among the people around her increasing in their own volume and progressing along their own course. The Commanders eyes wandered to Liara, who sat quietly listening to the conversations around her. As if Liara could feel Shepard’s eyes on her, she turned her head gracefully to meet the Commanders gaze. Shepard’s smiled gently at the Asari, regret overtaking her. Liara shifted in her seat, as she moved her tunic moved with her revealing a long chain. Shepard recognised this as her dog-tags; the soldier felt a rush beneath her skin, her eyes met the Asari’s once more and they spoke volumes. Shepard’s mouth curled into a broad, thankful smile. Liara blushed, smiling shyly; she looked away unable to hold the Commander’s gaze any longer. Shepard didn’t look away from the Asari who was nothing less than hypnotic. Liara had chosen to stay with the Commander…regardless of what it would mean it was all that mattered.

“Commander Shepard…” the same voice that had addressed her earlier broke through her train of thought again.

Shepard looked to the man in front of her: “Warrant Officer Brians.” She acknowledged him with a smile. “Commander a few of us were talking and…” he paused giving Shepard a chance to prepare herself for the worst, but an encouraging smile from her allowed the Warrant Officer to continue. “We uh, were wondering…what was it like on the Destiny Ascension? We heard ….well obviously it’s full of Asari Commando’s but …there’s also a Justicar on there.” Brians finished.

Shepard laughed inwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck, a little thankful at the anti-climax of the question. Shepard looked to the young officers around her, their faces bright with expectation. The spectre looked to Liara again, she had clearly heard the question and was amused by the innocence. The relationship between Shepard and Laira had taken an expected turn, it isn’t loving a marine, especially not Shepard. A large part of Liara always knew this, but now the other part, left over was beginning to accept. Deep down Liara wondered if she would ever be able to accept the reality that one day Shepard isn’t coming back, but she had decided that she would take a chance on it, giving it her all and enjoying it for as long as it lasted. For now she would be by Shepard’s side, even if that meant fighting alongside her – she actually wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Shepard took a moment to appreciate the resilience of her crew, one she had handpicked and who had not disappointed her. Their moral was fragile but stable much like her and the Doctors relationship.

Shepard pushed her oatmeal away from her, having conceded that she wasn’t going to eat it. “What is it like on the Accession” Shepard repeated the question to make sure she understood before she began; not know exactly what to say as she hadn’t seen much of the ship or its crew but she also didn’t want to disappoint the officers: “Well………………………………………..”

FADE TO BLACK

FIN


End file.
